Simplicity

"I'm back." The final words of the Lord of the Rings and my first words to return to blogging (for now, at least)!

The word that's been ping-ponging around in my head recently is "simplicity." Simple, huh? Haha.  Simplicity is anything but easy for me, though.  I have the gift of making things way harder than they need to be.  School, cooking, people, leadership, etc.  My relationship with Jesus doesn't escape this complexity either.  I continuously find myself falling into the trap of thinking, "I need to do this/I need to do that," before I stop myself and say, "Whoa, Sarah, hold UP. What does God actually want from me?"  And that's when I realize I get so busy doing for God that I quit being with Him which is what I believe He really wants from me.

In Psalm 46:10 the Lord says, "Be still, and know that I am God."  That is deceptively simple. Be still, oh that's easy enough...WRONG. It's so hard to be still when 5 billion other things flood my head. But God is asking me to spend time with Him in solitude and simplicity in order to know Him more intimately.

And at camp this summer, I was struck with the simplicity of the Gospel. I'm not saying that in a patronizing way but more in the way of amazement. I make following Jesus so complicated most of the time by getting wrapped up in theological issues and concerning myself with the state of others' salvation when Jesus is there the whole time saying, "Look, that's my business, girl, and here's what I'm really saying to you: stop for a minute and remember that I hold the whole world in my hand."

There's a joy that simplicity offers, too, and I've lost sight of that for a long time now.  But today I was sitting outside the Student Union Building on campus, and this group of close to fifteen little boys walked past my table.  They probably ranged in age from 7 to 10 and some of them were throwing around the F-word like a hot potato and another one was singing "turn down for what." But there was one boy who was walking behind the rest of them, and he kept starting and stopping and crouching and jumping around.  I had no idea what was going on with this kid until I realized he was chasing a grasshopper! Literally, he was totally consumed with his mission of getting this bug. The grasshopper kept flying off, but the little guy was always right behind it. Finally, I witnessed the precious moment of realization that his entire group was so far out in front of him - his chubby cheeks perfectly framed his humongous eyes and he sprinted off, his waterbottle banging against his knees.

In those minutes, this little boy reminded me of what it's like to enjoy something without worrying about what everyone else thought - that to have fun, I don't need all the bells and whistles, just a grasshopper and a warm summer day.  I can go on an adventure in my own city - I don't have to be halfway across the world.  I can sit with God - I don't have to journal constantly or read 10 books about Christianity at once.  That in the end, predestination and old earth/new earth debates pale in comparison to the fact that Jesus Christ came to this planet, died for my sins and your sins, and then conquered death and rose again because He loves us extravagantly and was grace-full enough to provide a way for us to spend eternity with Him.

I want to live simply.  I want to simply live.